Rome and Amalfi, Italy; My one week itinerary

Written By Noelle Berexa

ROME

Tuesday Oct. 15

  • 5:20 PM- Fly out of Chicago, nonstop via British Airlines

Wednesday Oct. 16

Torre Argentina

kitty!

  • Walk to Vittoriano, go up the big white steps for panoramic views of Rome

Vitoriano

  • walk towards the Colosseum

  • we stopped for lunch at Lari The Vino, near the Colosseum. It had amazing freshly made pasta, I got spaghetti alla gricia.

  • See the Colosseum!

Lari the vino

Colosseum

  • walk to the Trevi fountain and the Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain

Spanish Steps

  • walk back to the Airbnb approx. 50 minutes… do not recommend the bus system in Rome. the streets get too clogged with car traffic to even try Ubering.

Thursday Oct. 17

  • 7:00 AM- St. Peter’s Basilica 

    • Free but gets crowded later in the day, there was already a crazy line when I got there before opening, and I had tickets to the Vatican museum at 8:30 so i skipped going inside unfortunately and the line was still long after my museum visit.

St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City

  • 8:30 AM- Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel tour

    • Cover your shoulders and knees!!!

    • Ends around 10:30/ 11 am

    • I booked my tour guide directly through the Vatican’s website and it was easy to find the tour guide center once inside. I got the earliest time slot tickets-right at opening time- and there will be a long line waiting outside before opening but if you got your ticket in advance, the move the line in fast as soon as they open.

    • the tour ends inside, near by the sistine chapel so you can go in alone and take your time. The only entrance to the Sisitine Chapel is through the museum now. You’re not supposed to talk when inside, there is limited seating along the walls but it will be crowded. It was surreal to take it in! You’re also not allowed to take any photos, but they sell postcards if you want a good image of the famous Michelangelo fresco.

In the Vatican

  • Walk to St. Angelo bridge (was also under restoration)

  • the bridge leads to Via dei coronari

    •  shopping street 

Angel bridge

  • Walk to Piazza Navona

    • “ the Most beautiful square”

    • Four rivers fountain and fountain of Neptune. both were empty :(

Piazza Navona

  • See Church of St. Louis the French  (the Caravaggio paintings i wanted to see inside were also removed for restoration- disappointing!!!)

  • See Pantheon

    • Like 6 euros, can buy on your phone when you get there

Pantheon

Inside

Panini

  • Church: Chiesa di Sant'Ignazio di Loyola, insane painted ceiling 

Loyola

NAPLES

Friday Oct. 18

  • 10:35 AM- 1 hour Train to Naples We missed our scheduled train and had to repurchase tickets. Don’t rely on the bus to be on time and account for insane traffic! and honestly, don’t buy your train ticket in advance, the train runs super frequently.

  • 12:00 PM- arrived at Naples. We stashed our luggage using a luggage locker so we could explore freely.

  • Around the Naples train station is not very touristy, so we walked 25 minutes to San Lorenzo where there was a bunch of restaurants, shops, and museums.

Streets of Naples

Inside the church/ museum

  • I went inside a church turned museum, Complesso Monumentale e Chiesa dei Girolamini

  • We walked to see the iconic hand-painted Naples tile work at Santa Chiara Monastery. Entry was 15 euros. They have a pretty courtyard with all the tile and the buildings around have a small museum collection. At the time they had a painting by female renaissance artist Artemisia Gentileschi on display.

Artemisia

Tiles

Santa Chiara Monastery

  • Walked back to the train station where we met our taxi.

AMALFI

Saturday Oct. 19

  • Explore Amalfi!

  • It rained all day on us this day, but we still went out.

  • Got a chocolate cornetto from Pansa cafe next to the Duomo

The beautiful tiled bathroom in our Airbnb, and me!

The view from our Airbnb

The maze of small corridors to our Airbnb

pansa

Bakery

  • Walked down the main street in amalfi to bop into shops

  • Walked to Atrani (10 minute walk along the coastal road)

    • Nearby historic city, so unbelievably whimsical!!

Looking to Atrani

  • walked back to Amalfi and hiked up the many stairs to the Cemetery to look over the city. We were told there are beautiful gardens up by the cemetery here but it had just closed a few minutes before we got there.

Looking down on Amalfi

Sunday Oct. 20

  • went into Duomo again during a service

The Duomo

  • in the morning we took the bus to Positano. The bus is very confusing here! To get tickets for this bus go to the Piazza Flavio Gioia, near the restaurant “Amalfi Terminal” and look for a worker in a neon green vest. The worker in the vest sells the tickets, you will need to have cash euros for this! I believe it was 3 euros for a ticket but make sure to buy another one for the return trip too! The bus stop is across the street, just check with the driver that the bus is going towards Positano and not the other direction.

  • Arrive and explore Positano!

Positano shops

Positano beach

  • have lunch

  • We enjoyed some time on the beach. they have chairs with umbrellas you can pay for but they’re expensive ( 40 euros) or you can grab a towel and sit on the rocky shore. I didn’t bring a towel but bought one nearby to avoid paying for the expensive chairs and went swimming! It was still warm enough to swim in October, albeit I didn’t last that long the water was a bit cold but not bad.

  • I took the bus going back towards Amalfi but stopped at Fiordo di Furore (you could take the ferry back instead of the bus if you don’t want to make any stops of course)

    • Fiordo di Furore is a beautiful bridge with a scenic swimming spot underneath (20 mins on Sita bus 5070)

    • I was too chicken to swim here as the current looked strong and there was not many people around in case I needed rescuing

The bus stop in Positano

Furore Fiordo bus stop

Fiordo di Furore

  • get back on the bus to Amalfi, make sure to wait at the stop early or the bus will not stop if there’s no one waiting there and they’re not always precise on time.

  • Go to dinner

Monday Oct. 21

  • 12:07 PM- Ferry from Amalfi to Naples We just booked a taxi again as my friend gets motion sick.

  • Arrived in Naples

  • Took the train back to Rome

  • Checked into the hotel for our last night

  • Had dinner and an early bedtime

The restaurant we ate at was very touristy

Tuesday Oct. 22

  • 8:00 AM- Taxi to airport

  • 11:50 AM- Plane departs

  • 1:30 PM- 3:35 PM- Layover in London Heathrow 

  • 6:15 PM- Land in back home in Chicago!

Noelle Berexa
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